-Just primed our bathroom walls, which included some areas where I patched the drywall. In those places, the primer went on very smooth, with no noticeable texture, as one normally sees (simply resulting from the roller nap after painting). Is that because our rollers are smoother than normal, or does primer go on thinner and hence create less texture? So, should I re-prime with a "coarser" nap roller, or when I do the paint will it likely match the rest?
-Can one "spot-prime" areas without a problem. The primer can cautions against it, saying that it will create uneven colors. Is that just a sales ploy, or does it depend on the darkness of the eventual color (primer is white)? The bathroom we ended up priming the whole thing, but in the future any thought on if it's necessary?
I am assuming that your bathroom wall is "smooth wall" that is, not 'textured'. (If your bathroom wall is textured, you need to apply texture to smooth patches to match and blend with exiting texture) If your wall is smooth the patches will appear to be smoother since, as you point out, over several coats of paint some minor texture will naturally appear from roller nap. The only way to resolve that problem is to treat the paint textured area as textured - you may have to literally spray some very light (and wet) texture on and around your patches to get them to blend in. This is tricky stuff best left to someone who has the artist's touch - because that's what it takes for a flawless job where the patch disappears completely. Another option that YOU can do is lightly texture the entire bathroom (sounds like a much bigger job than it really is) prime/seal (with PVA sealer) then paint. Done right, your bathroom walls will then look like new. You could also wallpaper to hide the patches.
Repaint as much as you want with different nap rollers and you will always see the patches because as you paint over the patches, you're also painting the original wall, building up additional 'texture' there. It'll show.
If your walls are even lightly textured (like an orange peel, for instance) you can get some canned texture from the hardware store that will work pretty good if you take your time and experiement a little first so you get the desired effect. If you spray it on and it doesn't look just right, realize that as it dries it shrinks considerably and it may blend in after it dries. If it looks WAY wrong, thenjust get a damp cloth and wipe it off, start over.
Just be sure to prime with PVA sealer after any new wallboard or texture, otherwise the paint will soak in almost forever and you'll always see a "dry spot" where your patches are.
That is indeed all it is; the nap from a few layers of paint. In fact, it isn't just my patch, but you can see (most of the wall used to be covered with a full wall mirror that we've replaced) a 3 written on it, but as though it was written with joint compound? Very large and thick, I imagine designating the room/wall/color. Probably original, and that was the original mirror that they knew would cover it.
Wasn't familiar with PVA Sealer; we just used a Sherwin Williams primer that says it's a "waterborne, acrylic" primer. Doesn't mention drywall or joint compound. Do I need PVA-based for that? I also have a little Kilz2 that I used on some parts that had rust bleedthrough. OTOH: in reading up on PVA, the Behr site said don't use in high-humidity areas, I imagine like our bathroom? I imagine I need to at least go over the patched areas a second time with the primer. And for future situations, is it okay to spot prime just those areas where patching was done, or does it/can it cause uneven coloring?
Thanks for all the suggestions! Again, do I specifically need PVA sealer? It's all over compound, as the wallboard used was so small that I ended up with compound over all of it. Thanks again!
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